Senator Francis Tolentino has urged concerned government agencies to use creative and innovative ways to address the increasing number of vehicular accidents involving drivers under the influence of drugs.
During a hearing of the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs last week, Tolentino underscored the need for a concerted effort among government agencies, and not just the Land Transportation Office, to lessen drug-driving accidents.
“This should not be handled by only one agency. It should not only be the LTO. Everybody should be helping,” he said, adding that even a barangay tanod can help in reducing such cases.
Tolentino recalled how in the past, the MMDA and not the LTO became the first agency to have a breath analyzer device to detect whether the driver is under the influence of alcohol or not.
This happened, he said, even if LTO is supposed to be the frontline agency that should address such vehicular cases.
The lawmaker, a former chairman of the MMDA, suggested that the LTO may indicate on the driver’s license the traffic violations a driver has committed, particularly drug-driving, so it would be easier for law enforcers to determine the next course of action.
“This way, we will see if he has been rehabilitated the next time he is apprehended,” he said.
